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Figured out my air intake was backwards after 3 years | DIY Cold War Bunkers - Free To Speak

Figured out my air intake was backwards after 3 years

I've been running my bunker with a single 4 inch PVC pipe for ventilation since 2020. Thought fresh air was coming in fine until last month when I tested it with a smoke bomb from Amazon. The smoke just sat there and the carbon monoxide detector went off in 10 minutes. Turns out I had the intake and exhaust pointed the same direction instead of opposite. Flipped the exhaust pipe around and now the air cycles properly. Anyone else make this rookie mistake or am I the only one who skimmed the manual?

3 comments

3 Comments

xena_bailey181mo ago

Watching the air just sit there like a lazy fog" is exactly how mine looked too, it's so weird seeing something you thought was working just do nothing. For me the fix was also flipping the exhaust, but I had to rig up a little baffle out of a cut up plastic bucket to get the airflow to actually swap right. Made a huge difference, my CO2 levels dropped like crazy after.

pat_moore1mo ago

Dude, reading that you had the intake and exhaust pointed the same direction made me laugh so hard I choked on my coffee, but also, like, total solidarity. I've been there with a similar smoke bomb test and watching the air just sit there like a lazy fog is the most humbling feeling. It's such a simple thing to mess up, but three years is a bit of a rough one, lmao. At least you caught it before something bad happened, right? Good on you for testing it finally.

felix4141mo ago

Man, I feel that so hard @pat_moore. Three years is a long time to live with a mistake like that, but honestly, it's better to laugh about it now than beat yourself up. I've done similar stuff where I thought I was being clever and ended up just making a mess. The fact that you actually tested it and fixed it means you're doing it right. That's what counts in the end, right?